The Different Uses of the iPhone 5 Home Button

Dorothy clicked her red-sequined heels three times to go home. You need only press the Home button to get to the iPhone 5’s Home screen. Pressing the Home button twice performs a couple functions, depending on where you start from, whereas pressing it three times makes your iPhone perform various Accessibility functions:

When iPhone is sleeping: Press the Home button twice quickly to reveal the Unlock slider, the Camera button, and the playback controls.

When iPhone is unlocked: Press the Home button twice quickly to reveal the multitasking bar. Slide the multitasking bar to the right to reveal the Orientation Lock button and playback controls.

Pressing the Home button once has four results, depending on your point of departure:

When iPhone is sleeping: Press the Home button once to wake your iPhone, and then slide the slider to unlock it or drag the Camera button up to take a picture.

From the first Home screen: Press the Home button once to open Spotlight Search.

From any Home screen that isn’t the first one: Press the Home button once to return to the first Home screen.

From an app: Press the Home button once to return to the Home screen that was most recently viewed. The app remains running in the background until you close it from the multitasking bar.

Press and hold: Whether your iPhone is sleeping, locked, or awake, press and hold the Home button to summon Siri (an Internet connection is required for Siri to function), or Voice Control, if you have Siri turned off.

Press the Home button and On/Off Sleep/Wake button simultaneously: Captures an image of the screen, known as a screenshot, and stores it in the Camera Roll of the Photos app.

Hold the Home button and the On/Off Sleep/Wake button simultaneously: Your iPhone will turn off without displaying the Slide to Power Off slider.

Go to Settings→General→Accessibility→Triple-Click to activate any or all options including VoiceOver, Invert Colors, Zoom, and AssistiveTouch: When activated, triple-clicking the Home button solicits those functions.